Valve means for use in quenching incandescent coke produced in coking chamber ovens



l 1958 w. SALDEN ET AL 2,852,224

VALVE MEANS FOR USE} IN QUENCHING INCANDESCENT COKE PRODUCED IN COKING CHAMBER OVENS Filed May 4, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r .Q Z QGM Q 7- 7-02 A/EJ Sept. 16, 1958 4w. SALDEN ET AL 2,852,224

VALVE MEANS FOR USE IN QUENCHING INCANDESCENT COKE PRODUCED IN COKING CHAMBER OVENS Filed May 4, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Pa VALVE MEANS FOR USE IN QUENCHING INCAN- DESCENT COKE PRODUCED IN COKING CHAM- BER OVENS Application May 4, 1954, Serial No. 3

1 Claim. (Cl. 251-25) The present invention is concerned with apparatus for,

quenching incandescent coke produced in coking chamber ovens or the type in which the quenching water'for the coke is supplied to a quenching tower from an elevated container.

The coke produced in coking chamber ovens,'after being gasfiied, is generally pushed from the oven chamber into a coke quenching car in which, after being transported. from the oven chambersto a quenching tower arranged at' one end of the oven battery, the coke is sprayed while .25 water. In order to keep the consumption ofquenching,

in a hood under this tower with a voluminous-quantity of water down as much as possible the excess water is trapped after use and, after being clarified in a sump, is. re-used. To this end the clarified quenching water is. pumped again back to theelevated container arranged alongside the quenching tower and in due course is conducted from there back again tothe spraying mechanism inside the tower for the next quenching operation.

It is essential in coke quenching, as is well known in this art, that the quantity of water which is required for coke quenching purposes shall be made available as rapidly as possible. It is even more important to stop the supply of coke quenching water instantaneously after quenching of the coke has been carried out, to avoid excessive absorption of water by the coke. The valves which have hitherto been arranged and devised for this special purpose in the discharge conduit leading from this elevated container to said hood are little suited to this purpose, more particularly because the small particles of coke which are still present in the clarified quenching water readily settle between the sealing surfaces of the valve and not only impair the fluid tight character thereof, but also produce heavy wear on the sealing surfaces. It is an object of the invention to provide for this purpose a quenching apparatus as described having a valve in the conduit from the elevated container to the spraying mechanism which will automatically open and close under the control of the water pressure in the container and without engendering substantial friction.

The invention resides in incorporating as the valve arranged in the discharge conduit from the elevated container a ball valve of such form and arrangement that it can be opened by the pressure of the water in the elevated container and against the pressure of liquid of said container disposed above the ball valve, and which otherwise acts on the ball valve holding it against its seat, through the agency of a diaphragm and a control conduit connected to the elevated container and provided with a control valve.

A quenching water valve of this nature in such system provides for an instantaneous opening of the valve as required for coke quenching merely by the opening of the control valve in the control conduit which leads from the elevated container to the diaphragm acting on the ball valve, so that the necessary coke quenching can commence immediately. Further, when the control valve .in the control conduit is closed, the pressure of the conice tents of the elevated container acts instantaneously on the ball element of the ball valve to produce an immediate closing of the latter. Thus opening and closing of the ball valve is carried out without substantial friction nierelyby the action of the pressure of the water in the elevated container as. commonly stored alongside the hood for coke quenching. V

In order, when it isrequired to allow the ball valve to close again, to get rid of the water which is present in the pressure chamber of the control valve beneath the diaphragm, in accordance with a further feature of the invention, the control valve takes the form of a threeway cock which is constructed and arranged so that the to return to its starting position.

.Yet another feature of the invention resides in mount-.

ing the valve ball on one end of a lever arm on a pivot pin or-spindle which passes laterally through the housingof the ball valve and which is connected outside the latter .to the diaphragm through a suitable mechanical system. This avoids the necessity for having a valve rod connected to the diaphragm and passing vertically through the housing in a position in which it can only be held insealedfashion with difliculty as a consequence of the contamination of the quenching water with particles of coke.

In accordance with a still further feature of the invention, in order to prevent the penetration of these contaminating coke particles into the mounting of the pivot.

pin erfspindle of the mechanical system described above, and when this pivot pin is horizontally arranged, the pivot pin or spindle is preferably arranged to pass through a protuberance of the ball valve housing out of the main closure pressure, the arrangement being such that this. counterweight absorbs the sudden highpressure impulse from the head of water applied by the elevated container when the control valve in the control conduit is closed, thereby to protect, at least to a large extent, the valve body and the seating surface thereof against damage. In

addition, the counterweight assists the lifting of the ball valve, and as a result it is further possible to make the thrust surface of the diaphragm, which is required for opening the valve, comparatively small, since by-appropriate dimensioning of the counterweight the pressure acting on the diaphragm is only required to impart the necessary impulse to effect the opening. Furthermore, should the diaphragm assembly thereof fail, the counterweight enables the operation to be carried out directly by hand.

In accordance with yet another feature of the invention the valve ball is provided with a covering of resilient material, for example rubber, Buna, or one of the. known plastics which are not sensitive to acids and are resistant to mechanical stress, so that a sealed closure is obtained even in the event of impurities lodging between the surfaces of the valve.

Finally it is a feature of the invention to make the diaplate and at the other end to the ball valve housing. The

bellows m of resilient material and substantially cylindrical in form, preferably being of the same material as the covering of the valve ball and particularly pliant and nonfelting.

A preferred embodiment of the invent-ion is illustrated Patented Sept. 16, 1958 by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of quenching apparatusv const ucted in aceordance with this inventien, Figure 2 is a vertical section through a valve as used in hi a s b d Figure 3, is a plan view of the valve,

Re rin t o Fisur a en hin a oad with incandescent coke pushed out ,of an oven chamber is shown located in the hood beneath the quenching tower 2 as conventional. Arranged in the hood of the quenching tower at a level to be above the quenching car when therein are spray conduits 3 whichare fed througha pipe 4 from an elevated container or tank 5 alongside thetower 2, A valve 6 is incorporated in the pipe4 and is controlled, by means, of a diaphragrnshown in Figure 2, from acontrol pipe 7 connected to the tank 5. The quenching water is supplied to the elevated tank by means of a pump 8, through a conduit 9 from a sump 10 which receives the water flowing away from the quenching car 1 during the quenching operation and which water has been clarified by Weir separation of the coarse particles of coke decanted therefrom all as common in the art of coking.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the quenching water valve 6 comprises a housing 11 and a ball valve stopper element 12 which is applied, in the closed condition of the valve against an annular seating surface 13 of the valve housing by the pressure of the head of water in the container 5 at a level above the spray 3 and in the conduit 9 leading to this valve 6. The ball 12 is of metal and is covered with a resilient material, for example rubber, Buna, or a resistant plastic. The valve housing 11 is-of a larger area than the ball in the region immediately above the ball 12, and is furnished with a limit seat 14 against which the ball bears when the valve is opened to enable the quenching water to discharge downwards through the open annular passage provided between the housing 11 and the lifted ball 12 when it is limited by the seat. The housing 11 is also provided internally with ribs 40 which form a guideway for the valve ball.

The valve housing 11 is made in two parts which are interconnected by flanges 15 and screws or the like, not shown on the drawing. The lower part ofthe valve housing 11 is in the form of a pipe bend. The valve ball bears loosely on a plate 41 connected to a fork 16, and a lever arm 18 is articulated by means of a bolt 17 between the forked arms 16. This lever arm 18 is disposed in a protuberance 19 of the housing 11 andis firmly secured to a pivot pin 20 passing through the walls of this protuberance, for example by a squared mounting thereon, the pin 20 being mounted in sealed fashion in. a bushing 21 in the wall of the housing.

At its exit end the pin 29 is provided with a collar 22 which is disposed in a recessed bushing forming part of the wall of the housing and is pressed in sealed fashion against the base of this recess by means of a plug-form nut 23 having external screw threading. A rotatable lever 24 is rigidly connected to the pivot pin 20 at the end of the latter emerging from the. wall of the protuberance 19 of the housing, and one arm of the lever 24 is articulated in the forked portion 2 5 of a rod 27 (Fig. 2 by means of a bolt 26, Fig. 3. This rod 27, which is vertically disposed, is firmly connected to a double-layer plate 29 by means of a nut 28, and is guided in an external bearing 30.

Clamped between the layers of plate 29 is the beaded inner periphery 31 of a substantially cylindrical bellows 32, the outer periphery 33 of the bellowsbeing gripped between the flanges 34 of a casing secured to the underside-of the valve housing 11 and defininga pressure chamrod 27 which is merely guided by the eye bearing 30 on the housing.

Since the pressure of the head of water in tank 5 which acts downwards on the valve ball 12 is equal to the pressure which acts on the diaphragm. 29, 32 when the threeway cock 36 is open, the effective pressure faces of the diaphragm 29, 32 is. made larger than those of the valve ball 12" whereby to hold the valve 6- open under these conditions.

The otherarrn 37 of the. lever 24 is furnished with an adjustable counterweight 38 which prevents the valve ball rom be ng mpact d; a u ts e 13 y the u de surge of water pressure-resulting from the closing of the three-way, cook 36 This substantially reduces the wear on the valve'ball;

In addition, howeyentheuse ofthe counterweight 38 has the advantage that it enables the thrust surfaces of the ap ra m be kni relat v l since h diaph a m s thsa s islruss as. a means o m t impulse forovercoming the pressure difference between thelhead of water on, the uppen part of ball 12 and the counterweight 38, acting on the valve ball from opposite side, not neglecting the frictign, The diaphragm thus undergoes nd'enparision. The two-layer plate 29 rests on projections 43 inthepressurechamberlts when the valve isin the closed, eondition.

The. quenching procedure is initiated by operation of the threerway coek 36 located in the control conduit 7,

after the quenc hing earl with its charge of coke, is

driven into. the. hood beneath the quenching tower 2.

The quenching water flows through the control conduits 7 into the pressurecharnber 35 and forces the plate 29,

into, the position shown by. the right hand half of the diaphragm as it is illustrated in Figure 2, from the position illustrated in theleft hand half of this figure, thereby to create an. unbalance. in the pressure applied to the ball valve 12 and shift it into its upper position against limit seat 14. As, a result of the lifting of the ball valve 12, the quenching water is allowed to pass by gravity through the piped into the spraying mechanism 3, until the tank; 5 empties or the valve 6, is closed.

To close the'valve 6 to terminate the quenching of the coke, the three-way cock is turned into its starting position to. shut otf the conduit 7, as a result of which the water under the diaphragm 29, canfiow out of the pressure chamber 35. Under these conditions the pressure of the watc in the tanks then acts only on the upper part of the valve ball 12 and the latter is therefore pressed against its seat 13 The arrangement in accordance with the invention, while having been primarily devised for coke quenching, features thereof now also can be utilised for purposes other than the quenching of coke, in fact in all instances where it is desirable to liquid quickly available from an elevated. container and to rapidly shut it off from the supply.

What we claim is:

Apparatus for making liquid quickly available from an elevated container and for rapidly shutting otf the supply of liquid from the container comprising: a ball valve disposed in a grayityflow conduit leading from an elevated container, said valve comprising a freely floating ball in a chamber and a lower concave seat for the ball both under the hydrostatic head of the container upstream of the ball, a control conduit under the hydraulic effect of liquid pressure in the container for exerting a thrust on the ball downstream thereof but in a direction upstream thereof, a diaphragm chamber connected to said control conduit with a diaphragm therein comprising a rigid central plate and, a substantially cylindrical outer bellows surrounding the plate and clamped at its inner periphery to the periphery of the central plateand clamped at; its, outer periphery to the wall of the. diaphragm chamr. fo nsreas inait shtast a h r li e eqqsmta ue 9. T m i th al e ga n the y au i head of said container, a valve in said control conduit for supplying liquid to and exhausting liquid from said diaphragm chamber, a rotatable spindle disposed out of the path of the main flow of liquid through the valve, 21 ball lifting lever between the spindle and the ball, and a lever system comprising an adjustable counterweight system disposed at the exterior of the valve housing between the spindle and the diaphragm for regulating the opening movement of the ball by the spindle from the exterior of the valve housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 545,083 Locke Aug. 27, 1895 6 Evertsen Aug. 31, 1897 Foster Aug. 20, 1901 Eggleston Aug. 6, 1907 White Sept. 7, 1909 Thurtell Mar. 2, 1926 Dreyer Oct. 24, 1939 Graves Sept. 2, 1941 Price July 20, 1954 

